The technological complexity and number of available features and options of driver operated vehicles has increased greatly with the passage of time. These features, often relating to in-car electronics, consumer electronics, mobile devices, telematics devices and related software applications may create distractions impeding the safe operation of the vehicle by the driver. This problem is exasperated with the fact that vehicles and consumer electronics are not intended for mix use by the driver while driving. These distractions are summarized by three categories, Eyes Off The Road, e.g. looking at a display, Hands Off The Wheel, e.g. texting or dialing, reaching for a moving object in the vehicle, e.g. Finding and grabbing an unsecured mobile phone when it rings. Accordingly, it is imperative and one of the goals of this invention to minimize those distractions by providing a safely control system for a vehicle with controls located on the vehicle steering member (i.e. steering wheel) that are accessible by the driver while maintaining the drives hands on the wheel and eyes on the road. These controls may communicate commands and/or data to and from a controller that communicates commands and/or data to and from a vehicle bus or portable telematic devices through other communication protocols.
Other functions that complement this invention are the addition of Guided Thumb Gesture Interpretation sensor as opposed to the previously disclosed free hand Thumb Gesture Interpretation that can be used to enter physical commands or alphanumeric text right from the controls noted above.
Other functions that complement this invention is in conjunction with this invention is the addition of a cradle that can hold the portable devices securely to eliminate visual and falling objects distractions
Dangerous driving conditions can occur, for example, when drivers reach out to control vehicle accessories, dial a portable telephone, or change destination on a navigation device. The dangers can arise when the driver takes his eyes off the road to operate these mentioned devices and/or features causing the driver to lose track of any new developments and/or changes in the traffic or the road conditions surrounding the vehicle. These dangers are exasperated because the driver may remove one or both hands from the steering wheel to operate these device and/or features thereby maintaining only one or no hands on the steering wheel (steering member). Having one hand on the steering wheel may cause the arm holding the wheel to move unknowingly to the driver (i.e. the crosses extensor reflex).
A driver who is distracted while driving increases the possibility of an accident. A distraction can be anything that diverts the driver's attention from the primary tasks of navigating the vehicle and responding to critical events. Distractions include anything that takes a driver's eyes off the road (visual distraction), a driver's mind off the road (cognitive distraction), or a driver's hands off the wheel (manual distraction).
Current and previous National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) research, studies, and reports (as further discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,731,925 issued on May 4, 2004 incorporated in its entirety by reference), including the following: Distraction Effects of In-Vehicle Tasks Requiring Number and Text Entry Using Auto Alliance's Principle 2.1 B Verification Procedure, February 2012, DOT HS 811 571; Developing a Test to Measure Distraction Potential of In-Vehicle Information System Tasks in Production Vehicles, November 2011, DOT HS 811 463; Distraction Effects of Manual Number and Text Entry White Driving, August 2011, DOT HS 811 510; An Analysis of Driver Inattention Using a Case-Crossover Approach On 100-Car Data: Final Report, May 2010, DOT HS 811 334; NHTSA Distracted Driving Research Plan, April 2010, DOT-HS-811-299; Measuring Distraction Potential of Operating In-Vehicle Devices, December 2009, DOT-HS-811-231; Driver Distraction Review of Current State of Knowledge, April 2008, DOT-HS-810-787; Driver Strategies for Engaging in Distracting Tasks Using In-Vehicle Technologies, March 2008, DOT MS 810 919; Characteristics of Voice-Based Interfaces for In-Vehicle Systems and Their Effects on Driving Performance; March 2007, DOT-HS-810-867; The impact of Driver Inattention on Near-Crash/Crash Risk: An Analysis Using the 100-Car Naturalistic Driving Study Data, April 2006, DOT HS 810 594; The 100-Car Naturalistic Driving Study, Phase II-Results of the 100 -Car Field Experiment, April 2006, DOT HS 810 593; An Overview of The 100-Car Naturalistic Driving Study and Findings, June 2005, NHTSA Paper No. 05-0400; Assessment of Truck Driver Distraction Problem and Research Needs, May 2005, DOT HS 809 883; On-Road Study of Willingness to Engage in Distracting Tasks, March 2005, DOT HS 809 863; Wireless Phone and AutoPC Related Technology: Driver Distraction and Use Effects on the Road, November 2004, DOT HS 809 752; The Effects of Voice Technology on Test Track Driving Performance: Implications for Driver Distraction, December 2003, DOT HS 809 525; Volume I; Findings-National Survey of Distracted and Drowsy Driving Attitudes and Behavior-2002, March 2003; In Vehicle Inventory of Technologies: Human Factors Design Characteristics, February 2002, DOT HS 809 457; Driver Workload Metrics Project: Final Report, November 2006, DOT HS 810 635; Driver Workload Metrics Project: Final Report-Appendices, November 2006, DOT HS 810 635: Traffic Safety Facts-Research Note: An Examination of Driver Distraction as Recorded in NHTSA Databases, September 2009 DOT HS 811 216; Traffic Safety Facts-Research Note: Driver Electronic Device Use, September 2009, DOT HS 811 184; Examination of the Distraction Effects of Wireless Phone interfaces Using the National Advanced Driving Simulator-Final Report on a Freeway Study, June 2005, DOT HS 809 767; Hand-Held or Hands-free? The Effects of Wireless Phone Interface Type On Phone Task Performance and Driver Preference, June 2005; A Bibliography of Research Related to the Use of Wireless Communications Devices From Vehicles, February 2005; Wireless Phone and AutoPC Related Technology: Driver Distraction and Use Effects on the Road, November 2004, DOT HS 809 752; Examination of the Distraction Effects of Wireless Phone Interfaces Using the National Advanced Driving Simulator-Preliminary Report on a Freeway Scenario Study, April 2004, DOT HS 809 737; NHTSA Report: Driver Distraction with Wireless Telecommunications and Route Guidance Systems, July 2000, DOT HS 809 069; NHTSA Wireless Communications Report: An investigation of the Safety Implications of Wireless Communications in Vehicles, November 1997; (all the above are incorporated in their entireties by reference), investigate and address how distractions impact driver performance, and develop and evaluate vehicle-based counter measures to minimize the effects thereof. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drive by wire. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic throttle control. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven-segment display).
The above referenced “Naturalistic Driving” publication indicates that driver conversation is not the source of a driving distraction, rather, the looking away to perform a task is the cause of accidents. Therefore to avoid the driver having to look away to perform a task, advocates of speech recognition technology attempted to solve this problem by having the driver speak a command to a computer and having the computer then perform the task. Unfortunately, due to the shortfalls of speech recognition, this has been mainly unsuccessfully implemented partially and has shown real world failures to meet manufacture reliability standards. (See Many Cars Tone Deaf To Women's Voices, May 31, 2011, Sharon Silke Carty, published at aol.com).
To reduce driver distraction, governmental authorities have enacted legislation requiring that telephones used in vehicles by drivers while driving must be of the “Hands Free” type; telematics equipment also include a warning and discouraging the driver about the risk of using these devices while driving. However, such legislation is difficult to enforce and education is not usually effective in assuring driver compliance over a short time spans as evidenced by the Safety Belt campaign and the intoxicated driving campaign.
Moreover, even where the vehicle is equipped with a “Hands Free” telephone, drivers nevertheless still frequently use one hand for holding or dialing the telephone because speech recognition's poor reliability or because the Hands Free system they are using is not equipped to provide dialing or answering features. When one hand is occupied by holding a telephone, the danger of causing an accident in an emergency situation is increased because of the additional reaction time required to properly grip the steering wheel with both hands. Similar danger exists when the driver attempts to control audio and video equipment (e.g. Radio, Music CD, DVD, Books on tape etc.), or when the driver attempts to change environmental controls like adjusting the heat or air conditioning and/or other vehicle settings. These controls traditionally require diversion of vision off the driving direction and travel and lead to increasing the likelihood of accidents.
The present invention focuses on maintaining the driver's hands on the wheel and eyes on the road while providing the driver a control system for safely operating desired portable devices, vehicle functions and/or features using Short Cut controls and/or Thumb Gesture Interpretation as a system to detect the Gesture and as to conform vehicle and portable telematics device controls to accept common gesture as a command so as to reduce cognitive workload of the driver while operating any vehicle function, accessories or portable telematics devoices. As per University of South Carolina research, Dr. Amit Almor-Department of Psychology, speech has a cognitive workload on the person as they began to speak, so the gesture of Yes, No are much less taxing if a person is involved in a task with multiple steps while doing something critical such as driving.
One goal of the invention is to take enhance the capabilities of various sensorial driver abilities, provide the tools necessary to the driver to accomplish risky tasks in a new safer manner and reduce the possibility of falling phones and MP3 player which is a known causes for distraction, accidents and death. The sensorial abilities are enhanced by allowing the driver to obtain more information in a single glance or through peripheral vision by using, for example, color, shape, to enhance the peripheral visual recognition, dermal/tactile sensation, to select a function or a feature and confirming driver intent with tactile, haptic or verbal and visual feedback to minimize driver distraction while maintaining the driver's hand on the wheel and eyes on the road. Another goal of the invention is allow the driver to input commands using natural Thumb Gesture response, e.g. Thumbs Up, Thumb Down, Next, etc. and to enhance the gesture system by introducing a Guided Gesture that allows the driver to enter alphanumeric character in a language of choice and. Lastly, a known cause of accidents is the falling cellular phone and portable devices while driving. This is alleviated by introducing a universal cradle that is shaped like a pocket and can accept and grip any shape device without the need for a manual adjustment.